AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Coimbatore, appealing for the expedition of metro rail construction in Coimbatore and Madurai. This development comes amid a political controversy, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin accusing the central government of withholding approval for metro projects in non-BJP ruled states. According to Chief Minister Stalin, ‘for BJP ruled states, the green signal is given for metros, but in non-BJP ruled states, there is no green signal given to metros.’ The transcript notes that the central government has turned down the request for these metro projects, a fact corroborated by recent reports indicating the rejection was based on population criteria from the 2011 census.